The Diagnosis

Dear all loyal guests of Hotel Solace,

Sometimes I wonder where would I be in this cyberuniverse without you guys. Reading all your well-wishes and caring messages has proven to be a much more effective cure than any medication can offer.

Just so you know, I am recovering, but very slowly. What happened was unusual, probably even a first. I had gastrics on Sunday, and only got to bed at 4am (which technically means Monday morning).

I was in a comatose for a full 20 hours and only woke up on Tuesday 12am. That practically meant that I slept through the entire Monday without waking. Well maybe for a mere 5 minutes - when I was struggling in and out of consciousness to send a simple SMS to my PA to tell her I couldn't make it to work.

It was amazing how I never woke up at all after that. The only reason why I woke on Tuesday 12am after that long slumber was because my body was screaming for water. Imagine that I have gone without a morsel of food or a drop of water for 20 hours straight, or even more since my gastric attack on Sunday.

Took a sip of water, and fell right back into total unconsciousness. I remained in coma until a phone call from the office woke me up at 9am on Wednesday. By then, I have been unconscious for almost 30 hours.

Something's not quite right, and it worried me....a great deal. So I dragged myself to the doc - still feeling extremely lethargic. I slept again while waiting for my turn. The sleepiness was intense and I couldn't shake it off.

The diagnosis? I was overworked.

Doc actually felt that it was serious enough to give me an injection to ease the giddiness and medical leave for the rest of the week, coupled with tons of medication that will make me drowsy and allow my body to rest and recuperate naturally.

Funny thing is, I don't feel stressed at all. My body didn't show any obvious signs of breaking down. But yet, when it hit me, it felt like I was being consumed by a sweeping hurricane. Nothing I do could break that deep sleeping spell.

Sometimes I wonder if my phone didn't ring that Wednesday morning, would I just slip into perpetual unconsciousness, without anyone realising it? Would I even wake up at all?

I should be resting actually, but unfortunately my boss from Sydney is in town this week. Tons of meetings, tons of updates and presentations and tons of planning and deadlines to meet.

I was back in the office the very day I got the jab, while I was still feeling woozy and extremely tired. I would have slept some more if I did not have to go back to work. It's really no one's fault, 'cos there are some critical press deadlines I have to meet. And with my marketing boss in town for only three days, I really did not have much of a choice.

So now, I taking quite a while to recover...but I am recovering. Slowly but surely.

Thought you guys would wanna know what had happened to me since my last entry, in case you were worried sick and wondering if I am still breathing.

Thanks again for all your concern and love. I feel better already. :)

Yours gratefully,
Elvina da Divine Princess

What's going on?

It's exactly 12am.

I have unknowingly slept for 20 hours. Which also meant that I did not have single morsel of food or drink for that same amount of time.

My head feels heavy.

I feel weak.

I came online to search for a 24-hour clinic. Couldn't make it to work this morning. I vaguely remembered struggling to stay awake long enough to send an sms to my colleague before slipping into total unconsciousness.

I couldn't remember what happened. It felt like I was on an overdose of sleeping pills.

Found the clinic, gotta go now.

My eyes are threatening to close again.

What's going on?

Swamped Lake

I have been so busy since I got back from Sydney - and the workload seems to be getting heavier and heavier.

I have four newspaper print ads going out in this Saturday's Straits Times, seven job descriptions to clean up for a global IT company, 12 HR print ads to edit for the Human Resource Magazine, and a mega project that includes working on a html e-mailer, putting up new roles on the website, creating a client profile page, advertising the roles on external job boards, and partner with government boards to target their database.

All these on top of an event that I need to organize for Commerce candidates next week, attend two peer briefings for industry parnters in mid July, supervise the creatives and production of a range of golf-related merchandise that we are producing for a golf event that my company's sponsoring, and meet boutique creative agencies and production houses to brief them on my new branding strategy for the company.

Hence, I am quite drained to blog - so I do apologize for the lack of updates.

As usual, I have tons of topics to rattle about, and I love the interaction you guys are having on this site. It makes me feel really privileged to know that you are always here, even when I have been slacking. Makes my heart ache too for letting all of you wait so long for a new blog entry.

I will try to put up something interesting soon this week. Meanwhile, just be awed that I am now gearing up for a classic performance of Swamped Lake.

Nevertheless, I love my job still. My colleagues have came up to me - one by one - to tell me they are very happy that I came on board, they think I am amazing and they could not imagine how life would be without me. (how sweet...I am such a sucker for compliments)

I organized a huge party last week, which was hosted by my company's group COO and Asia Pacific CEO and attended by over 200 senior management clients and media personnel. Recieved lots of compliments from industry partners, and tons more from everyone in the office. I was told that that particular client event was the best party my company has ever organized, and most of the clients were highly impressed.

Best of all, my lovely boss gives me so much autonomy - it scares me. He listens to my opinions, takes my advice, and accept my suggestions. I do work hard, but life's been good. I am the voice of all things marketing, branding and PR in this company. Everyone is close to worshiping the ground I walk on.

I should have just ask for a million dollar salary per month.